A solar pond can be created by establishing an artificial halocline in a body of water adjacent to its surface. As is well known, the halocline has such a strong, downward salinity gradient that the resultant density profile also increases with depth event as the temperature increases in successive lower layers of the halocline. As a consequence, the halocline is a non-convective layer wherein heat conductivity is reduced to the molecular level. The halocline thus insulates a convective layer therebeneath, which acts as a heat storage layer. Absorption of solar radiation within the halocline and the heat storage layer can raise the temperature of the latter as high as 90-100 degrees Celcius.
Any action that significantly disturbs the density profile of the halocline, as for example, uncontrolled mixing within a layer of the halocline, will expose the heated brine to the atmosphere destroying the ability of the pond to function as a solar collector. Repairs to the density profile of the halocline can be carried out by preparing a brine of appropriate density, and then selectively injecting a predetermined amount of the brine into the pond at the depth at which repair is to be made, the density of such brine being predetermined in accordance with the degree of damage to the profile. This approach is difficult to carry out in practice, and often results in unwanted perturbations in the remainder of the halocline.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for locally modifying the vertical density profile of a halocline without significantly affecting the remainder of the halocline.